Every tour is unique, depending upon your needs and wants, the weather and currents. Listed below are some typical itineraries but you may design your own according to your own desires. Your Skipper is your own private Captain while you are onboard and will take you anywhere you like depending on the amount of time you have booked and the conditions on the Bay or Ocean.

Hands On Experience

If you would like to take the helm, or trim the sails, please let the Skipper know at the beginning of your tour and if you would like some sailing instruction or explanation of any nautical terms, it is included at no extra cost. Of course, everyone can sail the boat, even the kids!

Pickup and Drop Off

Pickup locations are in San Francisco or Sausalito. You will be notified of the precise pickup location by email or by phone prior to your Tour along with directions on how to get there.

Food and Beverages

Please bring your own beverages, food and snacks. No need to bring cups or glasses. We suggest bringing sandwiches, as they are the easiest to deal with on the boat.

What to Wear

Weather on the bay is both unpredictable and variable. One area may be quite warm while another is very chilly. It is best to dress comfortably, in layers. A tank top or tee shirt under long sleeved shirt and then a hooded jacket or a jacket and a hat. Wear low-heeled, comfortable shoes with non-marking soles, if possible. Sneakers or tennis shoes with white or light-colored soles are best. You can test whether they leave a mark by skidding your soles along a paved surface. If you show up with shoes that may mar the non-skid deck or high heels we may ask you to go barefoot. Don’t forget your camera and some Sunscreen. If you are going to bring wine please bring White Wine or Champagne.

America’s Cup Sailing Regattas

For all Sailing Regatta’s, we will leave 1 hour prior to the Start of the Race so we can get good position near the Start Line or one of the windward or leeward marks. We will then follow the fleet as best we can and aim to see the Finish if at all possible. Please bring your own Notice of Race, SI’s and Binoculars if you wish to accurately follow the action and understand the racecourse and participants.

Three Hour SF Bay Tour

If we pick you up in San Francisco: we will sail along the waterfront and then directly under the Golden Gate Bridge and then back past Crissy Field, St. Francis Yacht Club, Alcatraz and then weather and time permitting maybe swing by the Sea Lions at Pier 39 before dropping you back off at the pickup location in the City.

If we picked you up in Sausalito: we will take you out the Golden Gate Bridge and then run back up the deep sea channel to Raccoon Straight past the Belvedere Peninsula, Tiburon, and Ayala Cove before turning around and coming back through Richardson Bay and along the Sausalito Waterfront to your pickup/drop off point.

Four Hour SF Bay Tour

Includes everything in the three hour tour with the addition of a sail all the way around Angel Island into San Pablo Bay and possibly a stop off in a secret Cove that we know about where you can relax for as long as you want before we head all the way around Angel Island past Alcatraz before sailing back to San Francisco or Sausalito.

Four Hour Coastal Tour

Leave the City or Sausalito and sail along the City Waterfront or Marin Headlands and under the Golden Gate Bridge. Continue out into the Pacific Ocean and sail up the North Coast past Point Bonita, Fort Cronkite, and Tennessee Valley Beach to Muir Beach. Depending on the time of year you may see dolphins, porpoise, whales, seals, and an abundance of shore birds. Return along the coastline and back under the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito or the City. This tour may take up to five hours, depending on the tides, but you will not be charged extra.

Two-Hour Sunset Cruise

Leave City or Sausalito one hour before sunset. Sail along the Sausalito waterfront and under the Golden Gate Bridge where you can see the sun setting as a fiery ball into the Pacific Ocean. If it is a full moon you will see the moon rising in the east as the sun sets simultaneously in the west. Then, as the sky begins to darken, you will experience the magic of the GG bridge and city lights sparkling all around you. It’s unforgettable! Don’t forget to bring a camera and a bottle of your favorite beverage to toast the evening Sunset!

Marriage Proposal Cruise

This cruise is designed to your specifications. We can go anywhere that the above Tours suggest and then take you into a Cove where we cruise slowly while you pop the question. We can hide your Champagne and Roses on board to complete the special occasion. Call for further details to adjust this in any manner that you wish.

Ash Scatterings at Sea

North Coast Sailing Charters offers dignified, affordable ash scattering at sea services at a location that you desire. The San Francisco Bay, Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island and the Pacific Ocean are often locations with special meaning for the deceased and family where they can release ashes into the sea. We will provide you with the Latitude and Longitude of where you scattered the ashes so you can return and visit the site in the future.